Here it is, one of the jewels! The White House Cook Book written by Hugo Ziemann who was once upon a time the steward of the White House, and Mrs. F.L. Gillette. It is a cookbook treasure that has a special place in cookbook collectors hearts. It's a hefty one with 609 pages and packed with cooking, toilet and household recipes, menus, dinner-giving tips, table etiqutte, care of the sick, health suggestions, facts worth knowing and etc. Also has pic of Helen Axson Wilson, this classic cokbook would put the current First Lady at the time of publishing on the title page. This copy also has pics of Helen Herron Taft and Frances Folsom Cleveland.
Sometimes I'm amazed at how some people still think they have to buy bisquick or pancake mix in order to make pancakes or waffles. When all the mixes are, is simple ingrediants we already have thrown together in a box along with a whole bunch stuff I cant pronounce. This recipe is from The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker.
Pancakes
Makes about 14 4in. cakes(or 8 of "my family size")
Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
1 3/4 baking powder
-Sift together and in a seperate bowl beat 2 eggs lightly, to this add
3 Tbsp melted butter
1-1 1/4 cups milk
-Combine wet ingrediants to dry ingrediants and brown batter on hot griddle.
1930
- The cookbooks of the 30’s are gems for the obvious reasons. These women had to do it all, maintaining life as normally as possible, but with the drastic decrease to incomes that literally happened overnight due to the Great Depression. Another reason that these cooksbooks are a rare treat is due to the fact that there weren't alot of companies and publishing houses printing any new books for obvious reasons. The cookbooks that were published are usually budget-minded and very practical. Money saving tips and st
retching your dollar themes are common.
This is where the glamorous and excessive recipes of the roaring 20's came to dead stop and the start of practical and miserly recipes of the 1930s started. Hostessing large, grand parties stopped. There was still entertaining but in more of a small and intimate setting with close friends, think bridge clubs and church luncheons These are where some amazing stories and recipes can be found. Makes you humble and grateful!
Part 3
A truly great antique and vintage cookbook collector should be able appreciate what cookbooks from different eras have to offer and should learn what makes each decade special. A great deal of history can be learned from each decades own collection of cookbooks to point it's almost overwhelming, so to make it easier let's break it down into years and highlight what makes each decade special:
1900-1910- Cookbooks from the early 1900's are great for the reason that women and views of them were changing, women wanted acknowledgement and recognition. They started to make cooking more of a scientific accomplishment than it had been in the past. That's when exact measurements came out and sanitation and cleanliness facts were made available to the masses in a way it hadn't before and how did they accomplish such a huge endevor? How did they get the information to the masses? In cookbooks! The majority of books that were published were aut
hored by women FOR women. They were generally the only non-fiction books that were controlled by women and a great way to promote values and lifestyles. They were the descision makers of the home and cookbooks were a way to change how society as whole thought, as their choices filtered to the next generations through their children.
Part 2
The best place to start is to research cookbooks of value and find out why it is they're so high priced. There are so many informative articles that go into the history of what makes a book so valuable. Maybe it's the illustrations and cover art or it's the 1st printing of a recipe classic.
Research the authors and who they are. It makes it easier looking for them than memorizing titles and covers that’s for sure. Did they write a lot or for a certain company? Which are valuable? Is it because of writing styles or was it because of the recipes themselves?
Most of the time vendors don't do the research on all the books they have for sale, but you can walk in and know exactly what you're looking for and know that your paying for something valuable and rare that’s WAY underpriced! It's a good feeling and oh so addicting!
You should narrow your collection to a smaller catagory like certain decades, specific authors or your personal nationality’s cookbooks but whatever your niche is, FIND IT. It makes finding what you're looking for so much easier because "you can't collect EVERY cookbook in the world" -my sometimes very nervous husband. I l
augh every time he says that by the way!
Appreciate what cookbooks from different eras have to offer and what makes each decade special. A great deal of history can be learned from each decade's cookbooks so let's break it down:
Part 1
People collect vintage cookbooks for so many different reasons, it would impossible to name them all here. Speaking for myself, they're a great peek into the personal side of history. We were all taught the names of the famous generals, kings and dates of all of the important wars and events, generally speaking, things the majority of us have nothing in common with. Nothing to makes us feel connected to the past. But what about the other 95% of the days and people that weren't important or dramatic enough to make it
into the history books? People like myself? I feel that cookbooks are a great way to expierience that personal connection with people that have been through the same things. What to make for dinner? On a budget? How to keep a nice home and manage your family? All have been done before and written endlessly about. A great thing about older cookbooks compared to current is that it's delicious real food made with things you already have in your pantry. Simple, great tasting food, no exotic spices here You know the recipes I'm talking about, the ones you realize you have to run to the store for half way through completing. There're
no egos getting in the way of the food either like some of the celebrity chefs of today. They're also a great investment. Financially and personally. Not to mention, let's say you never plan on selling it or try ing to make a profit from them, cookbooks usually saves you way more than what you paid for it in the tips alone and what a great family keepsake to one day hand down!
The very first White House Cook Book was published in 1887 by a lady named Fanny lemia Gillette. She had been compiling what would becoe one of the most important cookbooks to date for almost 40 years. Inside are recipes for cosmestics to cleaners, how-to's on hospitality to child rearing. Everything the lady of the house from the vistorian era ought to know. It's great tips on almost every topic made this cookbook a favorite for brides-to-be. Besides having some engravings of a few of the first ladies it lacks any of the facts about the White House itself.
Later editions featured Hugo Ziemann, the White House Steward as a co-author who included facts and illustrations of the famous house. Most of the editions include a picture the current first lady at the time of printing was, on the front piece of the book. They have amazing illustrations showing the interior of the white house that included presidential table settings and all of the classic famous prseidential rooms.
The very early editions are incredibly hard to find largely due to printing on poor quality paper, making the pages brittle and succeptable to damage. So quality and condition play a VERY big part in the value of this antique cookbook.
A great keepsake and rare collectible from any publication date makes this a true american treasure!
My Vintage Cookbooks Store will now be posting a feature cook book each week and explaining who the author is, why the book is special, rarity and current market values. I have decided that this week the Super Special Book OF THE WEEK IS .............
Vintage Cookbooks are for everyone who has ever wanted to bake something special and turned to a modern cookbook and realized they never seem to have all the ingredients at the same time, there're for history lovers that want to feel connected to the past in a way that's missing in history books, there're for the people that love that musty old book smell and laugh at kindle's, they're for people that feel like we as a society have gone a little too far, a tad off course with life and want to get back to the simple and the real, and they're for the people that want to pay homage to all the grandma's and great aunts that did it best!
Wait for it....
retching your dollar themes are common. 
Part 3
hored by women FOR women. They were generally the only non-fiction books that were controlled by women and a great way to promote values and lifestyles. They were the descision makers of the home and cookbooks were a way to change how society as whole thought, as their choices filtered to the next generations through their children.
Most of the time vendors don't do the research on all the books they have for sale, but you can walk in and know exactly what you're looking for and know that your paying for something valuable and rare that’s WAY underpriced! It's a good feeling and oh so addicting!
augh every time he says that by the way!
into the history books? People like myself? I feel that cookbooks are a great way to expierience that personal connection with people that have been through the same things. What to make for dinner? On a budget? How to keep a nice home and manage your family? All have been done before and written endlessly about. A great thing about older cookbooks compared to current is that it's delicious real food made with things you already have in your pantry. Simple, great tasting food, no exotic spices here You know the recipes I'm talking about, the ones you realize you have to run to the store for half way through completing. There're 
no egos getting in the way of the food either like some of the celebrity chefs of today. They're also a great investment. Financially and personally. Not to mention, let's say you never plan on selling it or try ing to make a profit from them, cookbooks usually saves you way more than what you paid for it in the tips alone and what a great family keepsake to one day hand down!
